Liverpool's substitutes have only contributed one goal or assist since Xherdan Shaqiri's brace from the bench against Manchester United three months ago.

Jurgen Klopp has faced criticism for his use of the stars he has in reserve in recent weeks, especially in the goalless draws at Manchester United and Everton .

At Old Trafford, Klopp introduced Daniel Sturridge for the injured Roberto Firmino after 31 minutes, and later replaced Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah with Shaqiri and Divock Origi respectively.

While at Goodison Park he made the expected change to bring off Origi for the returning Firmino, but also brought on James Milner for Gini Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana for Sadio Mane.

Klopp's subs were criticised on Sunday (Image: PA)

Some Reds fans criticised the latter two decisions, with Milner playing poorly when he came on and the decision to replace Mane - who had scored six goals in his previous six Premier League games prior to Sunday - with Lallana also questioned.

And those fans will also be concerned at the lack of impact being made by Klopp's subs in the whole of 2019, during which they have failed to score a goal or make an assist in all competitions.

Shaqiri's double in the 3-1 win over United - the first of which came just three minutes after he came on - was 10 days before that Magpies win.

While December started with Origi's 96th minute winner against Everton and subs Firmino (scoring) and Salah (assisting) making an impact in a 3-1 win at Burnley .

Shaqiri emerged from the bench to score twice against United (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Prior to that there was a Shaqiri goal in the 4-1 victory over Cardiff , while the opening months of Liverpool's season also featured memorable goals from subs in the form of a Firmino winner against Paris Saint-Germain and a Sturridge equaliser at Chelsea .

Klopp will be hoping for a bigger impact from his changes in the season's closing weeks, but he should also look at himself to see if his decisions are the right ones.